lights to his home with the hit from south korea. this one is for you. i'm martin savidge. you have a wonderful night and a great rest of your weekend. we hope you weren't the only one headed back to work this morning. congress is back in session, and just in time, we are now 35 days away from the fiscal cliff. >> a big day in the middle east. today both israel and gaza meet to further the cease-fire between the two embattled nations. we're going to have a live report coming up for you. >> gray thursday, black friday, and now cyber monday. but just how good are the deals today, compared to what was put out this past holiday weekend? we're going to break it all down for you. >> did you do any shopping? >> absolutely not.

there's too much football. >> don't you love it? >> good morning. welcome to "early start," i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. 5:00 a.m. in the east. so let's get started. they are back. our lame duck congress returning to capitol hill today. the senate in session this afternoon. the house back tomorrow. and with 35 days left, as john just reminded us, before we plunge down the fiscal cliff, two prominent republican senators, lindsey graham and saxby chambliss are signaling they are willing to give a break the no tax pledge. that is a hopeful sign, folks, because a new cnn/orc poll shows more than two thirds of americans believe a trip over that cliff would create major problems, perhaps even a crisis. cnn political editor paul steinhauser is live from washington, d.c. this morning. nice to see you, paul. so the fiscal cliff triggers back-breaking tax hikes and massive spending cuts. you've got more numbers that show what type of budget plan americans actually prefer.

>> exactly. one of the big arguments, zoraida, is should it be all spending cuts to get us there or tax increases, as well? brand-new numbers just out from cnn/orc. only about one in three say whatever deal should be struck should be just spending cuts. but almost seven in ten, two thirds of americans say the plan should include spending cuts and tax increases. our poll indicates americans are not so optimistic a deal will get done and if it doesn't get done, who gets the blame? look at this right here, about 45% say republicans in congress will be blamed if there is no deal and the country falls off the fiscal cliff. about a third say the president should get the blame. and about 15% say you know what? both sides get the blame. >> let's focus on those republicans. a lot are saying they will violate grover norquist's no tax pledge. >> this pledge goes back to 1986 and you're now seeing some republicans saying no i'm going to break this pledge. lindsey graham from south carolina, the most recent saxby

chambliss did it the other day. those republicans senators up for re-election in 2014. maybe they'll face a challenge from the right. take a look at what lindsey graham said on the sunday talk shows. >> when you're $16 trillion in debt the only pledge we should be making to each other is to avoid the coming grief, and republicans, republicans should put revenue on the table. we're this far in debt, we don't generate enough revenue. >> and that's his key difference here. he says he's okay with the no taxes but we do need to raise revenues and if that means cutting back on such things as tax rates, he will do it. also he says the democrats have to come forward here, as well. they have to do entitlements if he's going to break his pledge. zoraida? >> paul steinhauser live in washington for us. thank you. >> we're in the midst of the shopping frenzy and some people are seeing encouraging starts to the holiday shopping season. a record 247 million shoppers hit the stores and websites over the weekend. the national retail federation said they also shelled out more

cash compared to last year. >> will shoppers still be in a spending mood today? because today is cyber monday. christine romans is here with more. some early holiday cheer for retailers. >> for retailers, yes. unless very smart, savvy shoppers took the deep discounts from the weekend and now they're done for the rest of the year, and then the retailers would not be so happy. also you're seeing this trend cannibalizing. you had more sales on thursday that height have taken a little bit of the euphoria out of black friday. and so now you're stretching basically the same amount or a little bit more spending over four days instead of the traditional three days. and also remember, $59.1 billion, record number of spending, that's up 13% from last year. this is according to the industry. the national retail federation. but last year, sales were up 15%. so that shows you it's not the barn-burner that it necessarily was last year. so who is going out and what in the world are they buying? this year they spent about $423

on average, according to the industry. and this is what they were spending it on. clothing and accessories, about 50%, toys, books, cds, dvds, video games, electronics making up about 37% of the purchases. no surprise, electronics are really the hot gift item. 15% on jewelry, this is, of course, only the second-worst time of the year to buy jewelry, now and valentine's day, bah, humbug and gift cards. i have no idea why people are buying gift cards tied to the holiday. however, this is what you are seeing overall in terms of traffic, traffic up some 35 million people on thursday. so you had sales down a little bit on friday. and then the online sales spiked for the first time ever, you topped $1 billion in online sales on friday, and you had online sales, $633 million on thursday. today is the made-up holiday called cyber monday. made up by the industry to convince you to spend more money

if you didn't already spend money over the weekend. that made up holiday will know a little bit later on what kind of sales are there. but consumers are very smart. they don't wait for a calendar day to look online. a lot of you today will be getting a ton, a ton of -- you're going to get a ton of solicitations in your e-mail. so be prepared for that today. but remember, a lot of people are doing what's called self scans. eight in ten bought something that wasn't a gift for someone else over the weekend. if you're smart in getting a good deal, go for it. if you're just getting into an impulse buy be very, very careful. >> you are correctly skeptical this year. they have a huge interest in putting out these numbers, making them see good. when will we know for real? >> we should know in a few weeks. we'll know when the quarter is over and if they can sustain these kind of sales. but remember the whole black friday, because this is the time of the year that retailers knew they'd make money for the year,

if they had a good day. they went in the black on friday. black friday, really important. not about your bottom line, boys and girls. black friday has always been about retailers' bottom line. always remember that. >> i like when people are really smart and do comparison shopping ahead of time and they know they're getting a good deal. >> deal news says 70% of the in-store sale prices are available online. so remember that. >> you don't even have to leave home. thank you so much, christine. seven minutes past the hour. new overnight israeli defense minister ehud barak is resigning his post. he says he is quitting politics. he says it's to spend more time with his family. he will leave his post in january. ehud barak's resignation comes less than two weeks after israel launched an all-out strike on hamas military positions in the gaza strip, saying it could no longer tolerate the constant rocket attacks by hamas on his israeli territory. the filmmaker behind "innocence of muslims" the crude anti-muslim short film that ignited protests in the islamic

world says he has no regrets about making the film. in written responses, he also told "the new york times" he had no regrets about how he treated the cast, saying they signed contracts that did not prevent changes in the script. in addition the deadly protests the film also read to nakoula's arrest for providing supervised release on a friday conviction. he is currently serving time in jail in los angeles. >> human error is to blame for last week's gas explosion at a strip club in springfield, massachusetts. at least 21 people were injured by that blast, including 12 firefighters, and two police officers, as well. officials say a utility worker inadvertently punctured a hole in a high pressure gas line while responding to calls about a gas odor. there were no grand prize winners for saturday night's $325 million powerball jackpot drawing. that means that wednesday night's drawing brings a record

$425 million. and that number could go even higher depending on ticket sales before wednesday's drawing. the previous high for power ball was $365 million. that was 2006. so this is a record. what are you going to do with that money? >> we're going to pool all our money together. >> i don't trust anyone in a pool. >> really? >> it always ends badly. they're -- >> when we win we'll see how you feel about that. >> there are lawyers whose practice is devoted to lottery disputes. >> i'm going to take my chances, berman, just in case. nine minutes past the hour. a major drug is under recall this morning. apparently glass was found in some of the bottles. find out which one after this quick break. hey, look! a shooting star!

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rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. welcome back to "early start." today a very important day in the middle east. particularly in egypt. delegations from both israel and hamas are in cairo to meet separately with representatives

from egypt to advance the cease-fire talks. and, as we mentioned this is all happening as israel's defense minister ehud barak announced he is resigning his post. that's just happening. meanwhile egypt internally embroiled by president mohamed morsi's move late last week granting really extraordinary powers. critics have called it an undemocratic power grab. today morsi meets with egypt's highest judicial body which has denounced his action. we're going to go now to matthew chance who is in london. good morning, matthew. i want to start with the news that really just happened. israel's defense minister ehud barak finishing up a press conference, announcing that he is resigning come january. any sense of whythis move is happening, and what next for ehud barak? he's really been a central key figure in israel for decades. >> yes, he certainly has. i don't think there's a great deal of surprise in this announcement. certainly within israel and the political circles that i've been speaking to, at least.

it's something that mr. barak says that he wants to do for a long time but the recent operation by israeli forces in gaza delayed his announcement to do that. something he says he's been planning to do for a long time. this is a figure, as you mention, who's been in public office and public service for his entire career. he was in the military in israel for the best part of 40 years. he went on to serve as prime minister, foreign minister, and defense minister most recently as well. what he says now he wants to do is simply to retire from politics. he's reached retirement age, more or less, and wants to spend more time with his family. i think feeding into that, as well, there have been some recent opinion polls in israel, the party which he leads, the independence party in israel, has been slighted in opinion polls as well. there was a sense in the upcoming elections in the country, his party would not have gained any or not very many

seats at all. so, he was on the brink, if you will, of some kind of political obscurity. so he's taken this decision more less to preempt that, john. >> he flipped from labor a few years ago. any e his departure will play a role in these peace talks happening in cairo? and what is the status of those talks? >> i'm not sure that his resignation is going to have a direct impact. although obviously it's a changing personality in this fast-transforming region. and the talks in cairo between separately between hamas and the egyptian government and israel and the egyptian government, to try and hammer out the details on the cease-fire that was implemented last week, on the one hand you've got the hamas from gaza who want the border crossings to remain open, they want the crossings into israel to be opened, as well, so they can essentially have that economic blockade on gaza that's been imposed by israel eased to a very large extent. the israelis, on the other hand,

want guarantees that weapons aren't going to flow into gaza once the crossing points are opened. certainly the ones from egypt. so this is just the start of a process of negotiations, which i'd be very surprised if it would produce any agreements today, perhaps not for several weeks. but we're watching them closely. >> meanwhile happening in cairo, in egypt, which is embroiled in this new controversy, because the president there mohamed morsi has granted himself these extraordinary powers. matthew, if you could explain exactly what these powers are and then explain what's gone on here. the stock market there tanked, there's a frenzy of people demonstrating on the streets and now signs he may be backing off. what exactly is this all about? >> well, it's mohamed morsi, the president of egypt, announcing what he calls constitutional declaration. basically a decree which says that no authority in egypt can revoke the decision of the president. which his critics say give him the powers like a modern-day

phara pharaoh, basically whatever he says goes. he's also deprived the ability of the country to dissolve the assembly, parliament which is at the moment drafting a constitution, a new constitution for the country. he says these are just temporary measures, that they're not intended to be permanent, really to protect the -- the ideals of the revolution through hosni mubarak, 20 months or so ago now. there's a lot of concern in egypt that this is a power grab intended to bolster the islamists, mohamed morsi is the head of the muslim brotherhood as well. you've seen thousands of people coming out on the streets calling for the decree to be revoked and calling for mohamed morsi to step down. take a listen. >> -- to be withdrawn, secondly i would hope that he starts to listen to the people. >> i am willing to tell him just

like we did with mubarak, i am going to oust him. >> so big gampel there for mohamed morsi. and it's a gamble that obviously has divide ed opinions inside egypt. >> matthew chance, thank you very much. >> it is 17 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. here's christine romans. >> good morning again. a fire that broke out in a garment factory in dhaka, bangladesh is under control. authorities still don't know what caused the eight story blaze saturday night. the factory is owned by tazrine fashion limited which manufactures for walmart and other companies in the u.s. justices will decide whether to hear an appeal that support's california's controversial proposition 8 which defined marriage as between a man and a woman. even though voters approved it federal courts have struck down prop 8 calling it

discriminatory. 41 batches of a popular cholesterol medication are being recalled because they may contain small particles of glass. manufacturing ranbaxy says the recall affects bottles containing 10, 20 and 40 milligram tablets of atorvastatin, the generic version of lipitor. check your medicine cabinet. so much for the november swoon, the defending champion, the new york giants, routing the green bay packers in sunday night football, eli manning throwing three touchdown passes. the giants snapping the two-game losing streak knocking packers out of a first place tie with chicago. a third quarter shower -- delaying the seahawks/dolphins game in miami yesterday. seems the stadium sprinkler system malfunctioned. it thought it was saturday. the players towelled off. the game resumed. the dolphins went on to beat the

seahawks 24-21. i knew that y t2k bug was final going to show up. >> thanks, christine. it's got live tiles so all my stuff's always right there in real-time. it's like the ultimate personal assistant. but i'm me, and me needs handlers. so i hired todd to handle it for me. todd, gimme that hollywood news! what's happening on twitter? you're trending! yes! i like you todd. i don't like todd because he's quitting. but now i'm hiring a new todd and it could be you. [ male announcer ] go to workforwill.com and try live tiles, that deliver what you want in real time. only from at&t. rethink possible. we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more.

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>> futures down this morning but it was a very good day on friday for stocks. last week turned out to be a decent week for stocks overall. there's the friday markets close, more than a percentage point increase for each of the major indices. and you have the dow back above 13,000 for the first time since the election. so a bit of a recovery last week, and one of the reasons is, this feeling that they're talking about the fiscal cliff, that's something that can be resolved and it puts the focus again back on what's happening in the u.s. economy. what's happening in the u.s. economy? it slowly is healing job market is starting to filter into sentiment. and the housing market is showing some notable signs of improvement. this week we're going to hear more on the housing market. manufacturing sector, also some consumer data. we're going to get some fed regional reports from the federal reserve. also going to get a gauge of gdp, gross domestic product. gdp is the broadest gauge of economic growth. prior quarter was something like 2%, not great. we think that maybe they're going to think this quarter was more like 2.8%, which would

show, again, that healing in the market overall. a quick focus for you on the housing market. this is something you probably felt most directly. in part because we have record low mortgage rates. last year the 30-year fixed fell to 3.31%. the 15-year fixed, this is the popular refinancing tool, 2.63%. many of you are telling me you can't qualify. i'm telling you, these rates are going to stay low for a long time so you should try to repair your credit history so you can take advantage of them. the quickest way to repair your credit history, if that's the thing that's holding you back in a slow recovery, pay your bills on time, every time. attention holiday shoppers, pay your bills on time, every time. that is the quickest way to begin to raise your credit score. so you can take advantage of the recovery in the housing market. so futures lower right now. but the attention right now in the stock market and the u.s. economy is going to turn to the fundamentals of the economy. we're going to get a lot of reads about that this week. >> holiday shoppers. i like this christine romans.

>> my annual ritual. >> all right, thank you. it is 25 minutes past the hour. imagine that a city shredded a bunch of paper with social security numbers printed on them, and then imagine that they used that shredded paper as confetti during a huge thanksgiving day parade. guess what? it happened. the details straight ahead. ♪ it's so important to make someone happy ♪ when you give a child a toy, it has to work. ♪ make just one someone happy and when it's a toys for tots child, well, what could be more important? so this year, every hasbro toy donated to toys for tots will be powered by duracell. happy holidays.

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okay, folks, today we are just 35 days away from the fiscal cliff. what it means for your money and the country's money, straight ahead. >> so, confetti filled with social security numbers.

that's what dropped from the sky during a major thanksgiving day parade. this really happened. find out where, straight ahead. remember this picture of a woman caught riding on the back of a manatee? we have now learned that she has been arrested. >> bad idea. >> yeah, very, very bad idea apparently. welcome back to "early start." we're happy you're with us this morning, i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. great to have you back from vacation. >> i am very happy to be here. >> 30 minutes after the hour. crunch time at the capitol. just 35 days until we hit the fiscal cliff, maybe go off that cliff. the lame duck congress starts heading back to capitol hill today. we're starting to see some hints of compromise in the air. several republican senators are suggesting they're at least willing to consider breaking their no tax pledge. according to a new cnn/orc poll, that's what the american people want. 67% say a mix of tax hikes and spending cuts is the best way to avoid the fiscal cliff which

were automatically trigger massive hikes in taxes and spending cuts. cnn political editor paul steinhauser joins us live from washington. what do americans think about their own finances when it comes to fiscal cliff? >> they're worried about it, john. from our same cnn/orc poll, brand new, almost 4 in 10 said if we go off the fiscal cliff it's going to affect them a great deal. another 4 in 10 said somewhat. only about one in five say not much at all. that's why americans are so clued in to this. they realize they may be affected in a great way. what about the negotiations? markets don't think much of washington. almost two thirds, or two-thirds say yep, they're going to be behaving like spoiled children when it comes to negotiations. only three in ten say lawmakers and the white house will act like responsible adults. finally the blame game, if there's no deal. who gets the blame? seems republicans a little more. here's why, 45% say president obama is doing enough to cooperate with the other side.

only about one in four feel the same way about republicans in congress. john? >> we saw, paul, this weekend a small parade, not a giant parade, but a small parade, light parade of republicans now saying that they may be willing to violate that famous no-tax pledge that grover norquist has asked them to sign over the years. >> yes. that pledge goes back to 1986 and tells people or signees say that they won't raise taxes. they also pledge to avoid reducing deductions or tax credits if they're not off debt. you mention, yes, saxby chambliss of georgia and senator lindsey graham of south carolina saying maybe we'll break that pledge. take a listen to peter king kongman from new york, a republican. >> i agree entirely with saxby chambliss. a pledge you signed 20 years ago, 18 years ago is for that congress. if i were in congress in 1941 i would have signed a support of declaration of war against japan. we're not going to attack japan today. the world has changed. >> king says that he's personally against raising taxes but he said, you know, when it

comes to these negotiations everything needs to be on the table. john? >> all right, paul steinhauser down in washington this morning. great to see you. >> 32 minutes past the hour. no bah, humbug, just lots of buying over the weekend. a record $247 million shoppers hit the stores, and the websites right after thanksgiving. the national retail federation saying they also spent more money, this is compared to last year. but will shoppers still be in a spending mood today? because you know today is cyber monday. >> huh. that's why i got out of bed. >> christine romans is here. >> i can't go on about being something else. cyber monday the made-up holiday to assure you spend more money. how did the holiday weekend look? well, friday had traffic up according to shopper track, but you had spending down on friday. it might be a sign that this push into thursday, and this push towards cyber monday is actually stretching out the buying a little bit. you're seeing pictures of what it looked like for people who

went to physical stores. you had a record number of people shopping online. about 59.1 billion, up 13% from last year. not as strong of growth as the prior year when you saw sales up about 16%. $423 on average, what shoppers spent, compared to $398. clothes and accessories. toys. books. cds, dvds, video games. move over here to the electronics category, 37.7% spending on electronics. 15% on jewelry. which of course, i like to remind you according to deal news, this and valentine's day is the worst time of year to guy jewelry. i guess if you get engaged you got to do it. >> such a romantic. >> i know. well, you know, look for the bargain if you can. >> prices are still pretty high. look where people are spending for cyber monday. for the first time ever, you saw a billion dollars in sales friday. 26% online. first time they topped a

billion. on thanksgiving apparently you were sick and tired of your aunt and grandma arguing over how dry the stuffing was and you went to buy something online. amazon was a top destination. the biggest year over year growth was amazon. take a look at these other places. walmart. big year over year growth. best buy, target also on this list. they've done -- and apple which doesn't do big discounting but this might be because of the holiday, you know, that you're starting to get in the mood for maybe buying that ipad or whatever and you're doing it. cyber monday, you're going to be bombarded today, any kind of website you ever shopped on is going to be trying to lure you into paying more today and buying more stuff. you can be smart about it. if you need it. if you're going to get a good discount for it. do it. it's called black friday because that's when the retailers make money. it shows how well they do on that weekend is how much profit they're going to have for the year. it's not about your profit. always remember that. >> good advice. thank you. big news out of the middle east. egypt's president is attempting

to calm the anger about what his critics call an undemocratic power grab. thousands have protested since thursday when mohamed morsi granted himself extraordinary powers. he said judges cannot overturn any decision he makes or law he imposes. today morsi meets with egypt's highest judicial body. john mccain seems to be softening his stance on susan rice. last week, the arizona senator vowed to do everything in his power to block rice's potential nomination to be secretary of state. blasting her for telling americans the september attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi was spontaneous and triggered by an anti-islam video. but now, mccain is dialing it back. >> i give everyone the benefit of explaining their position, and the actions that they took. i'll be glad to have the opportunity to discuss these issues with her. >> rice claims everything she said in the aftermath of the

benghazi attack was based on information provided by u.s. intelligence agencies. noted civil rights activist warren guyot. he led a black voter registration drive during mississippi's freedom summer of 1964. he had a history of heart problems. he was 73. >> and check out this truck, barely hanging on to an overpass. look at that by its two back tires. here's the story. police in beaverton, oregon, say the driver, 38-year-old matthew hamilton, had a blood alcohol level of 0.5. that is more than six times the legal limit. hamilton spent an hour dangling upside down in his truck before firefighters could actually get him out of that situation. he is now in jail. >> that is one lucky -- >> sobering up. >> one lucky allegedly very drunk guy. >> oh, my goodness. look at that. by the tires. >> all right another crazy story here. some people turned out to watch the macy's thanksgiving day parade in new york city last

thursday found the confetti raining down on them contained sensitive personal information such as social security numbers. turns out, confetti was made up of shredded documents from the nassau county, new york, police department. an investigation under way to determine how those documents ended up as confetti. that's just a bad idea. >> recycling going really, really bad, right? >> oh, my goodness. a woman from st. petersburg, florida, is in trouble this morning. she was photographed two months ago riding a manatee. 53-year-old anna gloria garcia was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant saturday. florida's manatee sanctuary act protects these endangered sea mammals. people are not allowed to annoy, molest, harass or disturb them. she faces a $500 fine and up to six months in jail! if she is convicted. >> as soon as you saw this picture you knew it was going to be a problem. don't ride the manatees. >> six months in jail, too.

that will teach folks a lesson. >> 38 minutes after the hour. and $1 billion. that's how much was spent by consumers on black friday alone. and with cyber monday here, thank goodness, just how good are those deals online? we are digging in to the numbers for you this morning. [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. buy now. save later. a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke.

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find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. good morning, new york city. how are you on this fine morning? it is 35 degrees right now. a little later, 48 degrees. you know, i was asking if it was going to be a nice, warm and sunny day. apparently not. it's a good day to stay indoors and do your holiday shopping. it is off to a record start. 427 million shoppers visited storms and websites over the holiday weekend. that's according to the national retail federation. that is up 9.2% from a year ago. total spending apparently was up, as well. 59.1 billion, up nearly 13% to

52.4 billion from last year. and while today is cyber monday, the day online retailers typically offer deals after the four-day weekend, online deals started almost a week earlier, black friday retail sales online topped $1 billion for the first time ever i'm being told maybe $1.5 billion that's up 26% from sales up 815 million last year that is according tocomscore.com. cyber monday deals are no longer just for monday. joining us is peter shenkman, branding strategist and author, to tell us if this means the end of cyber monday. so i'm going to start with that. is it the end of cyber monday? >> cyber monday came about back in 2002-2003 when online shopping really started to get big. and people didn't have the options to take their smartphone out and go to the store and check the price there versus online. so it was come to work, don't work all day monday, instead do your shopping. now you have the opportunity to do that, wednesday and thursday,

tuesday before thanksgiving. there will be deals today. there's no question about it. but they were still available thursday as well. >> you think this is the last year we'll be talking about cyber monday? >> no, we'll figure out a way to bring it back because there's small business saturday and donation tuesday. every day has a deal. if you want to shop online the deals are there as early as a week before thanksgiving. >> let's focus on cyber monday. what are the deals? >> definitely going to see stuff from electronics. apple is not noted for making deals, if you're looking for the new ipad discount, you're out of luck. it will never happen. amazon is going to have deals, particularly things like that. mostly electronics. a lot of the big box stores, walmart, will have some deals online. you can take an extra percent off. there's a couple websites you can go to, as well, that will give you extra couponing. you can go to google for coupons. time in coupon, name of store that you're looking for, and something will come up right there that you can enter in a code. there's a great site called

dealtaker.com. they'll tell you what customers are finding and put those coupons online. they have their own cyber monday deals, as well. i use that all the time. >> and what's the fastest growing retail category online? >> electronics. everything changes two days from now when you hear real numbers. but electronics are huge, amazon of course has a huge impact on that. thursday night, the turkey wasn't digested yet and i was online buying a brand-new tv. >> seriously? >> because it was there. >> did you do comparison shopping? >> i did. the price was the same had i driven to costco in queens or gone on my computer at my dad's place, and got it. now my wife knows. it really is the deals are there, you just have to look for them. and they'll always be -- can't really include shipping because even with shipping, you know, free super saver shipping from amazon is free. and so a lot of people say oh, you have to add shipping.

you're going to pay that anyway whether it's gas or tolls or whatever. that usually winds up working itself out. >> and oftentimes too on a day like today, you do have free shipping across the board. >> that's really the attraction. also, do you really want to drive yourself crazy, we're watching the videos of the fights at walmart. >> i'm with you. stay home folks and enjoy the shopping online. peter shankmen, thank you so much. appreciate all your advice. >> do not leave your home. so the northeast, the northeast is about to get a major smackdown. a smackdown in the form of snow. really. meteorologist karen maginnis is standing by live with the details. if you're leaving the house right now you can watch us any time on your desk top or mobile phone. [ male announcer ] what are happy kids made of?

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welcome back. 50 minutes past the hour. we're talking about 529 plans. >> we're doing college savings here. >> top stories, ooze well. we're focusing on college savings. >> i'm going to tell you how to spend your money from capitol hill. the lame duck congress is heading back to capitol hill, beginning this afternoon, and they have to figure out how to spend our money, as well. they have 35 days to figure out a way to avoid the fiscal cliff. otherwise taxes will go up and major taxes will be triggered. senators lindsey graham and

saxby champ blins are suggesting they would be willing to break their no tax pledge to get a budget deal done. today is day six of the cease-fire between israel and hamas and delegations from both sides are in cairo to meet separately with representatives from egypt which helped broker the cease-fire along with the united states. hamas says the latest round of talks will focus on border crossings and easings of the economic blockade of gaza. the bodies of a northern california couple have been recovered after they were swept out to sea trying to save their dog. the family was playing fetch with their dog north of eureka on saturday. the dog chased after a stick and got pulled into the ocean by eight to ten foot waves. the boy and his parents followed the dog into the water. >> horrible story. >> feeling lucky? no grand prize winner saturday night. the jackpot for wednesday's powerball drawing is up to $425 million. that number could go even higher depending on ticket sales offers next few days. previous high was $365 million.

>> okay financial whiz. lottery tickets a good way to make money? >> well, you have a better chance of wooind finding a winning lottery ticket on the ground. almost the same probability as actually buying one. just saying. >> with that wisdom. freezing temperatures, even snow in the forecast. karen maginnis, snow, really? >> a little bit of snowfall. it doesn't look like it's going to be a major nor'easter. but we are looking at snow for places that are still recovering from superstorm sandy. we've got a little bit of snow, lake-effect snow into the eastern great lakes. some of the snowfall totals could be 6 to 12 inches. but essentially north of interstate 90 line from watertown to syracuse, back over a little bit further towards the east. however for new york city, staten island, and for atlantic city, places like boston, generally speaking, we're starting out as rain, and maybe a rain/snow mix. and then we're looking at it

changing over to all rain. well, the frontal system is making its way towards the eastern seaboard, computer models probably overdoing the snowfall just a little bit. i think if anything, a half inch or an inch. but we're not looking at big, sick amounts. however quite a different story back across texas into louisiana and arkansas, with a chance for some hail. strong winds. and possibility of some tornadoes going into the afternoon. this is going to be an afternoon event, and the rest is just slight across this region. in new york, those readings will be in the 40s today. but for new york city, on tuesday, only into the 30s. and then we see this slow upward tick as far as the temperatures go. so, john, it looks like it's going to be fairly messy for people who are going to try to still be recovering from superstorm sandy. >> starting when, karen, was that? >> this will be on tuesday. it will start tonight, and going into tuesday, and then we start to move out very quickly by

wednesday, temperatures going back up a bit. >> zoraida is laughing at me. i need to foe when the storm is going to start. need to get to work and everything. karen maginnis, thanks a lot. >> i'll come help you. acclaimed actor morgan freeman lends his voice to the fight for same-sex marriage in his country. we're going to hear from him right after this quick break. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i can't stop eating 'em! what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. i'm going to dream about that steak. i'm going to dream about that tiramisu. what a night, huh? but, um, can the test drive be over now? head back to the dealership? [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a passat. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen.

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welcome back, everyone. 57 minutes after the hour. john berman along with zoraida sambolin. we're taking a look at the top cnn trend on the internet this morning. actor morgan freeman, he's known for his distinctive voice, shaw shank redemption. now he's lending that voice to fight -- to the fight to legalize same-sex marriage

across the u.s. freeman narrates a new 30-second ad produced by the human rights campaign. >> freedom, justice and human dignity have always guided our journey toward a more perfect union. now, across our country, we're standing together for the right of gay and lesbian americans to marry the person they love. and -- >> that voice. >> i could just listen. just play it. all right. 15 minutes past the hour. the rolling stones are back in business. the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band took the stage sunday at london's o-2 arena to make their 50th anniversary. >> they played more than two hours, proving they can still give an audience palestinianty of, yes, satisfaction. it was also a reunion of sorts, bounding bassist bill wyman and former guitarist mick taylor joined the band onstage. and not so legendary tune, lindsay lohan making her acting

comeback as the late, great, elizabeth taylor in "liz and dick." as expected the film was full of melodrama like this clip when the lifetime version of elizabeth taylor and richard burton meet on the set of "cleopatra." >> hello. in case you haven't guessed i'm -- >> richard burton? oh, i'd shake your hand, but my nails -- >> oh, yes, likewise. has anyone ever told you you're a very pretty girl? >> i think that gives you some good flavor of what the reviews might be. these reviews are epicly unkind. i mean like epically bad. the chronicle saying they were hoping so bad it's good. but said it was just bad-bad. >> it was pretty bad. >> imagine that. >> isn't that terrible? so "early start" continues right now.

you are not the only one headed back to work this morning. congress also back in session. and just in time, folks, we are now 35 days away from the fiscal cliff. >> all right, gray thursday. black friday. and now today, cyber monday. but just how good are the deals today compared to what was put out this past holiday weekend? we're going to break it all down for you. >> and $425 million. start dreaming. the powerball lottery just hit a new high and you'll never believe how much the cash payout is. we'll break it down for you coming up this hour of cnn. >> a lot of holiday shopping. an interesting cyber monday. good morning, welcome back to "early start," everyone. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. it's 6:00 a.m. in the east. up first, back to work for the lame duck congress. and with 35 days left before we head over the fiscal cliff, a couple of key republican senators are signaling they're willing to break their no tax pledge in order to get a deal done. that may be an encouraging sign,

because a new cnn/orc poll shows that 68% of americans believe a visit to the other side of that cliff could trigger major problems, even a crisis. cnn political editor paul steinhauser joins us live from washington this morning. paul, of course, the fiscal cliff triggers massive tax hikes and spending cuts if an agreement cannot be reached. you've got some more numbers that show the type of budget plans that americans really prefer. >> i guess they want a balanced approach. take a look at this, we asked just in this brand-new poll of americans nationwide, 68% say you can see it's a major crisis if we jump off the fiscal cliff. only about three in ten say no it will only be a minor problem or crisis. what do they want in a plan? it's interesting, about two-thirds say it should be a mixture of spending cuts and tax increases. only about 3 in 10 say the deal should be just spending cuts. that is a very big sticking point there among politicians here in washington, d.c. if there is no budget deal, if there's no deal to avoid the

cliff, who gets the blame? take a look at this, seems more people will blame the republicans in congress than the president. 45% say the gop in congress will be to blame. 34% say the president. about 15% say, you know what? everybody's going to get the blame if we fall off the fiscal cliff. john? >> the polls showing republicans may get a little bit more of it. maybe they're feeling that a little bit. we're starting to see some republicans saying they may be willing to violate the famous no-tax pledge. >> yes. that pledge goes back to 1986 from grover norquist who is now head of americans for tax relief. and the pledge says this to those who sign it, no new taxes. but also no deductions in -- no deductions or reductions when it comes to tax deductions for credits. and that's where some republicans now, john, are kind of leaving that pledge when it comes to that. they're okay with keeping taxes the way they are where they say we have to lower deductions. take a listen to lindsey graham, republican senator from south carolina. >> i want to buy down debt and

cut rates to create jobs, but i will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country, only if democrats will do entitlement reform. >> lindsey graham joins saxby chambliss, the republican senator from georgia who said the same thing earlier last week. both of these gentlemen are up for re-election in 2014, and maybe they could see primary challenges from the right. stay tuned on that one. a long way away. >> paul steinhauser live from washington this morning. thanks very much. it's three minutes past the hour. encouraging start to the holiday shopping season, a record 247 million shoppers hit the stores or websites over the weekend. the national retail federation says they also shelled out more money. this is if you compare it to last year. >> but, will shoppers still be in a spending mood today? which, of course, is cyber monday. christine romans here about more on that. early cheer for businesses? >> you know, retailers like what they see here. remember this is all stretching out. used to be black friday, the day after thanksgiving was called black friday because that was

the day the retailers knew they were going to make money for the year. if they did well on that day, from that moment forward it was profit through the rest of the year. black friday meant retailers in the black, not necessarily you in the black. now things have stretched out and you've got them pushing you into thursday. you've got cyber monday, where they're trying to get your deals on monday, as well. so, thursday to sunday, these are the preliminary numbers. and these will be revised no question. 59.1 billion dollars, up 13% from last year. but the year before, that rose to 16%. not as robust growth as we saw the last year. this year you spent on average, $423. those that were shopping, compared to $398. what were you buying? clothing and accessories, toys, almost 40% of you were buying books, cds, dvds. tech stuff, 37% buying electronics, 15% jewelry. remember zeal news says this and valentine's day the worst time of year to buy jewelry. and about a third of you bought gift cards over the weekend.

you're getting your shopping done. sometimes you're driven by deep discounts. sometimes you're driven by convenience because now that you've only got a few weeks left until christmas and you're doing that holiday shopping. we saw that online sales spiked, as well. online sales friday topped a billion dollars for the first time ever. thursday, in between stirring the gravy and arguing over politics with your uncle, you spent $633 million online. and it's so interesting, because amazon was the biggest destination. you saw some of the discount retailers did very well. highest year over year growth, walmart. you're finding reasons to use technology to do your shopping instead of going out and battling the stores. and, in fact, 16% growth in mobile sales using a mobile device. 16% growth. consumers, about 1 in 5 consumers are using their phone to make their purchase. how things have changed. used to be cyber monday, which by the way is a made-up day because retailers want to make sure they can capitalize on the

weekend to get even more of your money, but cyber monday used to be high speed internet access at work. you'd lose productivity on monday and do the shopping you did over the weekend. now people are shopping last week, they'll be next week, there will be last-minute deals even in the next few weeks. things are going to change for the black friday phenomenon has become, i would say, a tech holiday phenomenon. it's good if you can change next year. >> i'm still shocked by this, 32% increase from last year. you would think that people would be in tough times right now, right? >> well here's the question. will -- this is it. will -- this is the big boom and now you won't see a lot more sales, are people done with their shopping? are we being smart and strategic? >> going to find out. >> only time will tell. >> six minutes past the hour. there's late word in israel the defense minister ehud barak is resigning his post. he says he will leave the defense ministry in january to spend more time with his family. ehud barak served as prime minister from 1999 to 2001. and two weeks ago, he oversaw

israel's strike on hamas military positions in gaza, in an attempt to halt rocket attacks on israeli territory. >> the filmmaker behind "innocence of muslims" the crude short film that ignited protests in the islamic world says he has no regrets about making the film. in responses through his attorney nakoula basilly nakoula told "the new york times" he had no regrets about how he treated the cast saying they signed contracts that did not prevent changes in the scripts. the film also led to nakoula's arrest for violate his supervised release on a fraud conviction. he's currently serving time in a los angeles jail. a powerful gas explosion that leveled a strip club in springfield, massachusetts, last week was caused by human error. at least 21 people were injured by the blast, including 12 firefighters and 2 police officers. officials say a utility worker inadvertently punctured a hole in a high pressure gas line while responding to calls about a gas odor. the man who helped china

develop its first aircraft carrier dies of a heart attack over the weekend. as he watched his country's first successful landing at sea. 51-year-old luo yuan was chairman and president of the aircraft company and was also in charge of china's fighter jet program. luo was on board the new carrier over the weekend to watch the j-15 jet he designed come in for a landing when he suffered a fatal heart attack. and even if you don't normally play the lottery, it might be hard to resist buying a ticket for wednesday night's powerball drawing. there were no winners saturday night. a $325 million jackpot then, so wednesday night's jackpot is a record $425 million. that number could go even higher depending on ticket sales. >> oh, it will. >> the previous high for power ball was $365 million in 2006. >> eight minutes past the hour. major prescription drug is under

recall this morning. apparently listen to this, glass was found in some of the bottles. you're going to find out which one right after this quick break. you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. i heard you guys can ship ground for less than the ups store. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spot?

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with odor free aspercreme. powerful medicine relieves pain fast, with no odor. so all you notice is relief. aspercreme. welcome back to "early start." 12 minutes past the hour. it is a busy morning across the middle east. egypt's president meets today with that nation's highest judicial body. it is an attempt by mohamed morsi to explain the extraordinary powers that he granted himself on thursday, which some judges have called an unprecedented attack on the judiciary. among the moves morsi decreed, judges cannot overturn any decision that he makes, or law that he imposes, until a parliament is formed. thousands of egyptians have taken to the streets in protest.

many accusing president morsi of an all-out power grab. calling him a dictator. this internal unrest is happening as representatives from israel and hamas are in cairo for separate cease-fire talks with the egyptians. helped broker an end to the fighting last week between those two sides. israel's defense minister ehud barak just announced his res ilg nation. reza sayah is in cairo. we know the anti-morsi protests have continued this morning. what is the scene like right now? >> they're still out there. we've seen pockets of clashes. of course, we have the first fatality happened last night, a 15-year-old boy killed. a member of the brotherhood. at this point the muslim brotherhood doesn't seem to be using the fatality as a rallying cry to shore up the borders but there doesn't seem to be a resolution in sight to this conflict. leaders of the opposition faction still want the president

to reverse his decree. the president has said no. he's defended the decrees and insists these are decrees that are designed to protect the revolution and move forward with the democratic process. but his critics are still out, some of them saying they're not leaving until he reverses his decision. >> well, we understand the judges are -- >> -- withdrawn, secondly i would hope that he starts to listen to the people. >> i am willing -- just like we did with mubarak. we are going to oust him. >> now today mr. morsi and the muslim brotherhood are scheduled to meet with the judges, the supreme judicial council, that's one of the groups that his decrees undermine. the problem is, there is no dialogue to get to the leaders of some of the other oppositions. >> and more than $4 billion as well and the judges are threatening to strike. so even with all of that, no

decision for morsi to revoke that decree? >> well, we just spoke to one of his senior advisers, and he seemed to suggest that he might consider it, but many will say that if he backs up, it would be a politically wrong move for him. that it will be a sign of weakness. for now, there are no indications from his office that he wants to reverse the decree. >> and reza, just as we were going on air israel's defense minister ehud barak resigned. how could this affect today's talks between israel and hamas? >> it's not clear how ehud barak's resignation is going to impact these talks. but i doubt these talks are going to fall apart the decision for a cease-fire last week were made by the top officials in tel aviv, not just one person, but learnsy moving ahead mr. barak is not going to be part of these talks. here's his explanation of why he resigned. >> i feel it is important that other people should take leading positions in israel. changes in the positions of

power is a good thing. there are many ways to contribute to society and the country, and not necessarily to politics. >> today in cairo, both sides, israelis and palestinians, are going to talk about the conditions of the cease-fire that has yet to be agreed on, important topics like border crossings, israel's economic blockade in gaza, the firing of rockets from gaza in israel. all of these complicated issues on the table for these talks today. >> so much going on. glad to have you there, reza sayah live in cairo for us. >> it is 16 minutes after the hour right now. a lot going on this morning. christine romans here with top stories. a fire that broke out at a garment factory in dhaka, bangladesh this morning is under control with no deaths reported. this happens just two days after another fire there killed at least 120 workers. authorities still don't know what caused the eight story blaze saturday night. the company that owns the factory manufactures products for walmart, and other companies in the u.s. and europe.

hurricane sandy has sparked a new jobs initiative in new york city. temporary jobs for 5,000 young adults are being offered in areas that were hard-hit by that storm. any adult affected by sandy can apply. but the initiative is geared specifically to young people ages 18 through 24. >> when you look at communities like this it's this community, it's that age bracket that has the highest unemployment. doing a twoer if here, we're trying to tackle the unemployment problem in an area like this where the unemployment for that age group can run as high as 36%, 40%. >> getting something concrete on the resume is critical, too. the jobs will be for short-term and long-term projects aimed at rebuilding communities affected by sandy. the new initiative expected to last up to six months. a popular medication used to reduce cholesterol is under recall because the bottles of pills may also contine small particles of glass.

manufacturer ranbaxy says the recall affects 41 batches of 10, 20 and 40 milligram tablets of atorvastatin, the generic version of lipitor. the generic version of lipitor. please check your medicine cabinet. the defending champion new york giants ending november with a 3-10 route of the green bay packers. eli manning threw three touchdown passes to snap a two-game losing streak. okay a couple of bad games. knocked the packers out of first place tie with chicago in the nfc north. take a look at this. the third quarter shower? delaying the seahawks/dolphins game in miami yesterday. the stadium sprinkler system malfunctioned. it thought it was saturday. the players towelled off, the game resumed. it was a real psychological -- >> messing with your head there.

>> anyway. it is 18 minutes past the hour. coming up, quick check of the markets on this monday morning. [ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. how you doing today? i'm good thanks. how are you? i'm good. [ gordon ] but for others, it's all they can afford. every day nearly nine million older americans don't have enough to eat. anything else? no, not today. join me, aarp, and aarp foundation in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger.org. this monday online only. get the droid razr by motorola in cranberry, free. or a white 7-inch samsung galaxy tab 2, just $99.99.

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minding your business this morning, christine romans here with a look at what's ahead for the week in the markets. >> with futures a little bit lower this morning, so, not really that much of a surprise when you saw such a good week for a shortened holiday week

last week. you had the dow, nasdaq, and s&p 500 up more than a percentage point and it's because there's slow healing in the jobs market. notable improvements in housing. the idea last week that just maybe 535 people would not be completely insane and drive us off the fiscal cliff. the idea that they're talking about something helped the mood last week. this week, in focus, the housing market. the manufacturing sector. consumer data. we'll get regional reports from the federal reserve. we'll get the gdp, gross domestic product report. very important to show us about the broader health and the economy. we expect it's going to show economic growth has picked up. quick note for you on housing. this is a really important part. there are three legs of this tool, it's your job, it's your investments, it's your house. your house, a few of you are under water. mortgage rates are so low, more of you are taking advantage of those low rates. a 30-year fixed rate 3.31%.

15-year fixed rate, 2.63%. that is the popular refinancing tool. and if you have a good credit score and you're not you under water you're unto get more money in your pocket by refinancing and more and more people are doing that. that's something we're starting to see through the economy, slowly, slowly, but surely, and we're going to see more of that this week. something you were telling me that you can't afford -- you can't do it because your credit score isn't good. you're having trouble, look mortgage rates will probably stay low for some time so use this time to repair your credit. the best way to repair your credit is to pay your bills on time, every time. pay them on time every time. >> one more time? >> on time every time holiday shoppers. remember, you know, if you're -- if you haven't saved for your kids' college or you're not paying down your debt and you're buying holiday presents, remember, that's the one thing you need to know today. when the whole world is trying to get you to spend money over the next four weeks pay yourself first. the same america that's complaining about not having money saved for college, the same america running out and

waiting in line for doorbusters, pay for yourself first before you go out and pay for retailers bottom line. >> wise, wise words. want to know if you're at risk for parkinson's disease? one man has developed a very simple way to test for early indicators. all you need to do is speak. check out this preview of the next list. >> i'm dr. sanjay gupta. this week on "the next list" meet max little. a math wiz and innovator with a surprising goal. >> a name's math little and i'm aiming to screen the population for parkinson's disease using voice match. >> max little has a bold idea. what if doctor's could detect parkinson's disease simply by the sound of your voice. >> aah. >> max little is close to proving just that. he says one simple voice test can determine if someone has parkinson's. all you need is a telephone. >> we've got an ultralow-cost

way of detecting the disease. >> watch how max little's surprising idea is taking shape this sunday on "the next list." >> that's a must-watch. so imagine that a city shredded a bunch of paper with social securities that were printed on them. and then imagine that they used that shredded paper as confetti during a huge thanksgiving day parade. it happened, folks. we have all of the details straight ahead. trying to find a better job can be frustrating. so at university of phoenix we're working with a growing list of almost two thousand corporate partners - companies like microsoft, american red cross

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selsun blue. got a clue? get the blue. this morning, you're just 35 days away from the fiscal cliff. what it means for your money, and the country's money, straight ahead. confetti filled with social security numbers? that's what dropped from the sky during a major thanksgiving day parade. >> crazy. and remember this picture of a woman caught riding on the back of a manatee? well, we've now learned she's been arrested. welcome back, everyone, i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. it is 30 minutes past the hour. and just 35 days left until we reach the fiscal cliff. a lame duck congress heads back to capitol hill beginning this afternoon. we're seeing a hint of compromise in the air. several key republican senators signaling that they are willing to consider breaking their no

tax vows to get a budget plan passed. according to a new cnn/orc poll, that's exactly what you want to hear. 67% say a mix of tax hikes and spending cuts is the best way to avoid a fiscal cliff crisis. cnn political editor paul steinhauser, he is live in washington for us this morning. nice to see you, paul. so falling off the fiscal cliff means severe spending cuts and tax hikes, automatically kick in. so how worried are most americans? i understand you have some numbers for us. >> i do have more numbers from that new cnn/orc national poll. americans are concerned about how it will affect them directly. almost four in ten said if the country falls off the fiscal cliff they will be impacted a great deal. or somewhat. look at this. another four in ten say somewhat. only about one in five say, you know what, if the country falls offer the fiscal cliff i'm not going to be impacted that much or not at all. our poll also indicates, as you mention, americans want compromise but they don't think they're going to get it from politicians.

here's why. look at this next number, two-thirds say that politicians here in washington, d.c. are going to act like spoiled children when we get down to these negotiations. only about one in three said that the politicians act like responsible adults. and the blame game. if there is no deal by the end of the year, who gets the blame? seems more than likely republicans in congress rather than the president. here's why. about 45% say president obama is doing enough to cooperate with the other side. that goes down to about only 24% when it comes to the republicans in congress. >> i'm still shocked by that spoiled children there. crazy. all right, so more republicans are actually saying that they may cave and violate grover norquist's no tax pledge. tell us about that. >> yeah, and that no tax pledge is about 25 years old. those who signed it pledged not to raise taxes. but they also pledge that they would be against reducing or eliminating tax deductions or credits. as you mentioned two senators in the last week, saxby chambliss in georgia and lindsey graham of south carolina, both

republicans, both up in 2014 for re-election said they would break the pledge if needed to get a deal done. congressman peter king republican in new york feels the same way. take a listen to him. >> i think everything should be on the table. i myself am opposed to tax increases. the fact is the speaker and majority leader and the president are going to be in a room trying to find the best package. i'm not going to prejudge it. i'm saying we should not be taking ironclad positions. >> king says while the pledge may have worked in the past, now is the time to be flexible. zoraida? >> all right. paul steinhauser live in washington, d.c. for us. thank you. >> 33 minutes after the hour right now. just lots of buying this weekend. lots of shopping. a record $247 million shoppers hit stores and websites after thanksgiving. ed national retail federation says they also spent more money compared to last year. but -- will shoppers still be in a spending mood today? which, of course, is named cyber monday. christine romans is here with

us. >> who named it cyber monday? hmm. the industry did! because once they saw that you would open up your wallet for black friday, then they were stretching into monday so you could do online shopping, and then they moved it into thursday. so now you've got this big chunk of time around thanksgiving where you're spending money for the holidays. how much did you spend? $59.1 billion. that's up 13% from last year. these are preliminary numbers. thursday to sunday. sunday is a real forecast because they don't have those numbers in even preliminary in just yet. up 13% from last year. that compares with 16% the year before. it was record spending but the growth wasn't as robust as the prior year. the average shopper spent about $423. that is up a little bit from the prior year. $398. what did people buy? they bought clothes. more than half of you out there were buying clothes, toys, that is the perennial favorite, of course. books, cds, dvds, electronics were very big on the shopping list. jewelry, 15% of you bought

jewelry and 32% bought gift cards. online shopping was up on friday, for the first time you've broken a billion dollars in sales online. today is cyber monday, which is, you know, used to be you come to work, you had high speed internet access. you did the shopping you didn't do over the weekend. now you've been shopping online since early last week and will likely be shopping right up until the end of the shipping deadlines. >> or beyond. >> or beyond. so be careful out there spending the money. it was a good weekend, it looks like for the retailers, but of course we're concerned about whether it was a good weekend for you. impulse shopping, and the question also for the retailers is, have they cannibalized on the rest of the holiday season by all of this promotion over the last week or so. maybe a lot of you are done now. maybe that $423 is what you were going to spend for the season. >> we're going to find out eventually. 35 minutes past the hour. in egypt today, president mohamed morsi meets with judges to explain his controversial edict that they cannot overturn his decisions or any law that he

imposes. morsi claimed this move is only temporary until a parliament is formed. but thousands of egyptians have taken to the streets accusing morsi of an all-out power grab and demanding that he rescind his edict. >> some signs the republicans stance against susan rice might be softening at least a little. last week arizona senator john mccain vowed to do everything in his power to block rice's potential nomination to be secretary of state, blasting her for telling americans the september attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi was spontaneous and caused by an anti-islam video. now mccain seems to be dialing back a bit. >> i give everyone the benefit of explaining their position and the actions that they took. i'll be glad to have the opportunity to discuss these issues with her. >> rice insists everything she said in the aftermath of the benghazi attack was based on information that was provided by u.s. intelligence agencies.

the nba and its fans grieving this morning for houston rockets coach kevin mchale. the hall of famer's 23-year-old daughter alexandra died saturday. a report in the houston chronicle says she was suffering from lupus, that's an autoimmune disease. mchale left the team earlier this month and there is no timetable for his return. >> he was one of my favorite players growing up. really nice guy. sad to hear that. here in new york police officials would like to know how police documents containing confidential personal information ended up as confetti at last week's macy's thanksgiving day parade. this really happened. strips of paper containing social security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, even the names of undercover detectives, rained down on parade spectators. an investigation is under way. yeah. >> i think that would be a good idea to recycle, right? but not in there. all right. a woman from st. petersburg, florida, can face up to six

months in jail. there's her picture there. she was photographed two months ago riding a manatee. we showed it to you back then. 53-year-old ana gloria garcia gutierrez was arrested on a misdemeanor current on saturday. florida's manatee sanctuary act protects these endangered sea mammals. she says she was new to the area at the time and did not know about that law. >> too bad for her. she's going to learn about it now. the northeast about to get a major smackdown. a smackdown in the form of snow. meteorologist karen maginnis standing by with the details. questions?

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welcome back. soledad o'brien is here to take a look at "starting point" coming up. >> lots happening this morning. 35 days until we reach the fiscal cliff with more republicans thinking they're going to move away from that pledge not to raise taxes. we'll get reaction this morning from the man behind the pledge, grover norquist, with americans for tax reform. also be talking to new jersey congressman bill pass cell from the house budget committee. following the growing unrest from egypt after president morsi has a decree that gives him extraordinary new powers. insight from jamie rubin, president clinton's former assistant secretary of state. and he's the talk of the sports world. sophomore jack taylor joins us to talk about his record breaking 138-point basketball game. >> it was insane. >> it was insane. the next game after that, though, not so much. we'll talk about that, too. and he's a living legend who really needs no introduction at all tony bennett will talk about his new album, his new memoir, his new documentary and his

hobby which is painting. >> as if he had to be any cooler. now he's taken up pointing. >> he started his career as a painter. never thought the music thing would work out. high school teacher told him he would go into music. >> all that and much more when we see you right at the top of the hour, 7:00. >> thanks, soledad. we'll be tuning in. 42 minutes past the hour. looks like snow might be in the forecast for the middle east. i know berman is freaking out about this. let's get to karen maginnis for the very latest. say it ain't so. he's stressed. >> well it could be a rain/snow mix. you still without power? >> no, he has power. but he has to do a little cleanup before the snow. >> oh, john, i've been there. i had a flooded home, and very unpleasant. very unpleasant for an extended period of time. temperatures in the 30s. all across the northeast and new england. looks like temperatures today fairly mild. going to be in the 40s. as you go into tuesday that's when we're looking at the snow chances going up.

how much snowfall? not a whole lot. could be a rain/snow mix. generally speaking along that interstate 90 corridor to the north of that, that's where we're looking at the bulk of the snowfall right now. looks like a little bit more towards the south. lake-effect snows, the machine has been turned off. still picking up the winds coming right off the lake with sustained winds 15 to 20 miles per hour. not going to produce much in the way of snowfall in the north. interior sections of the northeast, john, just to be clear. a frontal system is going to squeak through. as it does on the back side of the area of low pressure, a little bit of snowfall. it's going to be light. most areas, barely anything to talk about, john. but a chance of severe weather right along the gulf coast. i'm tailoring the forecast for you, john. >> i know my personalized weather forecast. i really do appreciate it. i have a flight tomorrow. just hoping the plane gets out. >> if you would like your own

personalized forecast just send us an e-mail. >> it is 44 minutes after the hour right now. want to get you up to speed on the headlines. the cease-fire between israel and hamas is holding up today, day six of that cease-fire. delegations from both sides are in cairo to meet separately with the egyptians who helped broker the cease-fire. the goal today, to try to advance the talks further. a fire that broke out at a garment factory in bangladesh this morning is under control. it happened just two days after another fire there killed at least 120 workers. authorities still don't know what caused the eight-story blaze saturday night. the company that owns the factory manufactures clothing for walmart and other u.s. and european brands. a popular cholesterol reducing medication is under recall because 41 batches may contain small particles of glass. manufacture ranbaxy says the recall affects bottles containing 10, 20 and 40 milligram tablets of

atorvastatin calcium. it's better known by the generic name of lipitor. sorry, it is the generic version of lipitor, i should say. >> you feeling lucky? are you? with no grand prize winner saturday night the jackpot for wednesday's power ball drawing is now up to a record $425 million. that number you know is going to go even higher depending on ticket sales over the next couple of days. the previous high from power ball was $365 million. that ticket was sold in 2006. >> going to be you this year. i can feel it. speaking of money, $1 billion? that's how much was spent by consumers on black friday alone. today is cyber monday of course. with that upon us how good are the deals online? we're going to dig into the numbers this morning. (announcer) when subaru owners look in the mirror, they see more than themselves.

so we celebrate our year-end with the "share the love" event. get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. by the end of this, our fifth year, our total can reach almost 25 million dollars. it's a nice reflection on us all. now through january 2nd. this monday online only. get the droid razr by motorola in cranberry, free. or a white 7-inch samsung galaxy tab 2, just $99.99. this holiday, get the best deals on the best devices on the best network. exclusively at verizon. >> hi. >> you know, i can save you 15% today if you open up a charge card account with us. >> announcer: we all love a good deal during the holidays, especially identity thieves.

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you're looking at a beautiful shot of the capitol in washington, d.c. kind of like a holiday festive look there. of course the holiday season is upon us right now. 37 degrees in washington at this moment. later it will be up at 54 degrees. as we say the holiday shopping season off to a record start. 247 million shoppers visited stores and websites over the holiday weekend. that's according to the national retail federation. that's up 9.2% from a year ago. total spending they say was up also, 59.1 billion, up nearly 13%. it was 52.4 billion last year. and while today is cyber monday, the day online retailers

typically offer deals after the four-day weekend, online deals actually started almost a week ago. also, black friday retail sales online topped $1 billion for the first time ever. that's up 26% from sales of almost $816 million last year. that's according to comscore.com. cyber monday deals are no longer just for cyber monday, though. joining us now is peter shankman, a branding strategist and author of "can we do that." how much longer this will really exist, especially if the deals are available days in advance. >> cyber monday because seven or eight years ago very few of us had broadband. so we'd go into work on monday morning, with much faster connections, and do all our shopping then. now we're doing it thursday night between the turkey and the dessert. all the deals have really started earlier this week. they started earlier last week, probably tuesday and wednesday you could get super beginner deals. and then on thursday, everyone

was online anyway, because no one was working. so we're all home. on mod night when the people did go out and shop, they also had their smartphones and they were scanning the bar code and seeing if they could get it cheaper on line. >> monday is now likes a six-day affair. >> really it's a cyber week. it's one of those things that served a purpose seven or eight years ago -- >> black friday, too. the single-day holiday events are no longer single-day events and may be cannibalizing themselves. >> keep in mind, 10 years ago you couldn't shop online. people had the day off on friday and went to the stores. then they started doing it at midnight to get door buster sales, things like that. now you could go online as you're walking down the street, am done app or walmart app and buy whatever you want, whenever you want it. but its timiing has changed. we're dvr'ing holiday shopping. >> we all like to mock the idea of cyber monday and the named days. are there any deals that are really available? >> there are. you always look for free shipping. just the free shipping alone can

save you on gas, on tolls, on parking, things like that. on getting big tvs into your car that normally wouldn't fit. there are some websites out there, dealtaker is a great site that gives you not only the latest cyber monday deals but any coupons that are collected by others. you are also go to google, type in the name of the score you want and type coupon and it will show you any coupons that exist online. codes you can use. a lot of the smaller sites, the smaller companies that have websites, they're also doing deals today that they might not have done over the weekend. great day to shop for small business. >> i think free shipping is such a great point. that's real, free money if you can get your acting to. >> looking anywhere from $8 to $50 to get something in a week that you other kwiez have to drag home. >> what sectors are we seeing the most online shopping? >> a lot of electronics. you'll never get a deal at apple. but you will see deals walmart, amazon, the big stores will definitely have deals on

electronics. clothing. things like that. outer wear. there's a website doing 30% off everything they have in their store today only. so there are a lot of deals, smaller sites, clothing, electronics, jewelry, accessories. >> you're an expert, yet you still succumbed. >> i did. my family was driving me a little crazy thursday, i went into my dad's office in his apartment, found a 70 inch vizio on amazon, my wife's finding this out, too, bought it. that should be delivered in five days. >> 70 inches is really big. >> i didn't realize how big 70 inches was. >> congratulations on your tv. peter shankman, great to see you. zoraida? >> imagine delivering that big package. thank you, gentlemen. acclaimed actor morgan freeman lends his voice to the fight for same-sex marriage in this country. we'll hear from him right after this quick break. [ male announcer ] when was the last time something made your jaw drop?

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welcome back. 57 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin. along with mr. john berman. taking a look at the top cnn trends on the web this morning. actor morgan freeman is known for his distinctive voice. now he's lending that voice to the fight to legalize same-sex marriage across the united states. freeman narrates a new 30-second ad produced by the human rights campaign. >> freedom, justice and human dignity have always guided our journey toward a more perfect union. now, across our country, we are standing together for the right of gay and lesbian americans to marry the person they love. >> that voice can narrate anything. >> yes, indeed. >> he's fantastic. meanwhile different voice, lindsay lohan making her acting comeback as the late, great, elizabeth taylor in "l "liz & dick." as expected the movie was full of melodrama, like when the

lifetime version of elizabeth taylor and richard burton meet on the set of "cleopatra." >> hello. in case you haven't guessed i'm -- >> richard burton? oh, i'd shake your hand but my nails -- >> oh, yes, likewise. has anyone ever told you you're a very pretty girl? >> the clip kind of says it all right there. the reviews, it's smoking me up. the reviews have been awful. the new jersey star ledger and the san francisco chronicle said they were hoping for so bad it's good but both just said it was just plain bad. >> i read a review in "people" magazine that was not so bad. >> i hope you enjoyed it. >> all right. that's it for us. >> i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now.